


Words of Meaning

by Ceridwyn2



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Love, M/M, Mentorship, anti-bullying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9709112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceridwyn2/pseuds/Ceridwyn2
Summary: Bernie takes it upon herself to help a friend in need.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of @lunacatriona's Holby City Fic Challenge #2 to write a story around a prompt. This was my choice of prompt to use:
> 
> \- "One word can sometimes be sharper than a thousand swords." (Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D Taylor)

Pulses, at two o’clock in the morning, was a quiet affair, a few staff arriving for a caffeine and sugar fix to get them through the rest of the night. When Bernie Wolfe entered the hospital doors, a gust of cold wind blew through with her, causing her to shiver in her escape from winter’s hold. If there was one thing she hadn’t always missed when she was out on tour it was Britain’s winter weather. However, what she lost in the heat and constant presence of sand, she gained in being able to share that winter warming up with Serena - and that she wouldn’t trade for anything now.

Even in their present situation with Bernie caring for Serena as she tries to process her grief, Bernie cannot fathom not wanting being here. She’s handled her own guilt - merited or not - for being able to save Jason and not Elinor. Though she might be the fantastic and fearless doctor that Serena had claimed she was, the bleeding damage done to Elinor’s brain was something she couldn’t fix. Serena had wanted to be alone tonight with Jason to fuss over as he continued his recovery, so Bernie had agreed to stay at her flat for the night. However, after three hours of tossing and turning, Bernie decided she’d head into work. It was technically a day off but at least she could get caught up on some administrative work that required her attention. 

Stopping at the counter, she ordered her coffee and a muffin. As she waited, she looked around to see if there were any staff she recognised. Sat in one corner, Zosia March huddled with Dominic Copeland. She smiled a greeting at them which Zosia acknowledged. She thought briefly about going over but a slight shake of Zosia’s head and a mouthed, 'later', Bernie nodded. She kept note to check later how they were doing. Paying for her order, she headed through the corridor to AAU and onto her ward. On a Thursday night, the ward was only a third full, and looking at the assignment board, she could see at a glance what was covered. Fletch was sitting at the nursing desk adding some notes to a chart. Upon seeing her though he startled slightly.

"Ms. Wolfe. I wasn’t expecting you to be in tonight."

"Couldn’t sleep. How are things? Anything urgent?" Bernie inquired in case she had to go change into some scrubs.

"No. There was just one procedure this evening which Raf took care of before he headed home at midnight. Jasmine is just checking on Mr. Donaldson now; appendectomy."

Bernie nodded in the direction of the consultant’s office. "I’ll be in there getting a dent in the paperwork. If you need me, don’t hesitate to holler."

Dropping her leather bag on one of the guest chairs in the office, she turned to hang her coat up before flicking on the small lamp on their desk. She sighed heavily as she dropped herself down into her chair. She wasn’t a religious person, but she uttered a prayer, or perhaps an oath to some higher power to take care of Serena and Jason in her absence. Pursing her lips, she reached over and grabbed the first handful of folders, opening the top one and read through the chart’s details. Typing the notes into the electronic charts, adding annotations to the surgical plan and outcomes, she moved from one chart to another to the next. It wasn’t until she heard a knock on the door, that she lifted her head to look at the clock on the wall. She rubbed a hand against the back of her neck and rolled it before looking at the door.

"Come in," Bernie called out. 

"Ms. Wolfe?" Zosia March stopped at the entrance, clearly hesitating and debating whether she should before glancing at Bernie. 

"What can I do for you, Doctor March?" Bernie asked kindly as she stood to move her things off the chair, and indicated for Zosia to take the seat offered.

"I don’t… I’m not entirely sure why I’m here, but I thought you might be able to help."

"I take it this is more personal than work related?" Bernie inquired as she looked at the younger woman’s troubled expression. "Dom?"

Zosia’s head whipped up, meeting Bernie’s gaze before remembering that Bernie had seen the two of them in the cafe earlier. "I hate talking out of turn, especially about good friends, but I’m worried about him. He’s lost. He’s lost that spark and interest he has about life, about medicine. I thought at first that it was just a delayed reaction to missing Arthur…" Zosia paused and sighed. "But now I think it’s much more than that. He’s lost his confidence. He’s a very good doctor and I’d hate to see him lose the ground that he’s gained."

Leaning back in her chair, Bernie took a deep breath. She’d missed talking with Dom lately, not surprisingly with everything she’s been trying to do with Serena, but she’d seen him hesitant and guarded when she was covering Keller recently. When he’d come to talk with her in the Keller’s consultant’s office, he seemed genuinely surprised and confused that the decision for the conference trip was solely Mr. Mayfield’s discretion and as far as Holby was concerned, Dom was the chosen assistant. 

"He is a good surgeon. He certainly has the makings of a very good one." Bernie smiled, thinking his cockiness reminded her of some of the young medics that had worked in her units while on tour. Turning serious for a moment, though, she added, "What do you make of Isaac Mayfield?"

"Honestly?" Zosia asked, and continued upon seeing Bernie’s nod. "I don’t trust him. Gut instinct is that he’s up to no good. In fact, I know he’s not. After, standing up for himself, turning down the trip, Dom came to stay with Ollie and I for that week. He didn’t say much at all, but I could hear him crying through the night. Yesterday he told me Isaac had a one night stand before leaving for Hawaii."

Bernie’s fist clenched around a piece of paper and she took a couple of deep breaths. Doctor March’s instincts were adding up to her own impressions of the registrar. While nothing to pinpoint specifically, and certainly nothing that she could at the moment call into professional practice concerns, she’d seen attitudes and arrogance like his in the military. 

Recognizing that Zosia was still there, she looked over to the young woman. "You’re a good friend to him, Doctor March. Keep hold of that. Look after him. I will do my best to do that as well. As for the rest, let me look into it further."

"Thank you, Ms. Wolfe." Zosia stood and rubbed her hands against her legs, seemingly not knowing what to do next, then gathering herself and shaking her head and plastering a small smile on her face. "I best get going. Need to make sure Mr. Rossini is not flirting with all the patients again." 

Breaking her usual habits of personal space and interactions with work colleagues, Bernie extended a hand to Zosia’s shoulder. "We’ll find a way through this for Dom, okay?"

"Thanks." Zosia nodded and then left the office, leaving Bernie with some things to consider. 

Knowing she’d not have the requisite access to request the personnel evaluations from Human Resources of someone not on her ward without legitimate clinical concerns, Bernie would have to speak with Sacha Levy and Ric Griffin and that would have to wait until the morning shift. She made note of things she wanted to check out before she forgot, then stood and stretched. Peering into her cup, she ditched the last dregs of coffee into the pale next to her desk. She smiled to herself for a moment. Unlike the last time she’d been left in control of the ward whilst Serena was on suspension, Bernie had kept their office tidy in Serena’s recent absence. She’d even at one point taken a picture to prove that, though she’d not sent it to Serena, and her partner had not even mentioned the tidiness when she’d returned.

Heading out onto the ward, Bernie took a look around, noting where patients and staff were located, before finding Fletch checking the IV drip line of one of the patients. Waiting for him to finish and approach her, she checked her phone for any emails. Nothing urgent, so she opened her Messages app and typed in a small message to Serena, 'Thinking of you. Take care. Love, Bx.' 

"Is everything okay, Ms. Wolfe?" Fletch asked, startling Bernie as she’d not seen him approach. "Sorry. You seemed miles away."

"It’s okay. I was just going to ask how things were going out here."

"Things are all right. No worries." Feeling concerned, he turned his head towards the office. "Was there anything Dr. March needed?".

"Just a consult, Fletch," Bernie responded, indicating that it was not up for discussion, and Fletch nodded. "I’m going to go stretch my legs a bit. Page me if you need me."

"Will do, boss." Fletch winked and smiled then headed back to his duties.

Bernie walked out the AAU doors, and headed up to Keller via the stairs. Entering the ward, she spotted Essie walking towards her, after checking on a patient. Smiling, Bernie held up a hand as she looked around the unit for Dom.

"Hey, Ms. Wolfe, did you miss us?" Essie lightly inquired. It wasn't often they had a consultant from another ward cover but since Sacha was still out recovering and Ric was still acting CEO, they’d had a couple of locum consultants.

"Something like that. Have you seen Doctor Copeland around?"

"He’s with Mr. Mayfield in surgery at the moment. They should be close to being done." 

Bernie nodded. "What do you make of Mr. Mayfield?"

"In what way?" Essie asked.

"Professional, mentoring, interactions with junior staff."

"Well, he’s personable. He gets along with everyone as far as I’ve seen."

"And Dom?" Bernie asked.

Essie thought for a moment before responding, "He’s seemed a bit down lately but he’ll come round." 

Bernie nodded, partially expecting that answer. If Dom was hurting as Doctor March indicated, then he was likely putting up a front, a wall to protect himself; it was a trait she identified with all too much. "Thanks. Would you mind not mentioning this conversation, please?"

"Sure. Not a problem," Essie responded, but now she was curious about why Bernie would be asking about Isaac. "Did you want me to tell Dom you were looking for him?"

"No, that’s fine. I’ll just reach him later." Bernie turned to leave the ward and as she got out into the hallway, she heard raised voices coming from a side office. She couldn’t hear the content but could hear the tone and recognised the voices. While she disliked confrontation when it came to her own personal life, she was certainly prepared and trained to deal with confrontation when it applied to staff, and as she liked and respected Doctor Copeland, she entered the room and just waited for their reaction.

"Doctors Copeland and Mayfield, what is the problem?"

Turning to his senior colleague, Isaac responded after a brief moment of a glare at Dom. "Ah, Ms. Wolfe, Doctor Copeland and I were just having an argument about patient care."

"It was my fault," Dom started quietly. "I missed seeing something on the scan that was more problematic once we opened the patient up. She nearly bled out but we were able to save her."

"Can I see the scan, please?" Bernie asked. She waited until Isaac handed over the iPad with the digital copy of the scan enlarged. "The lesions were completely adhered to the outside lining of the bowel and were starting to penetrate into the colon, causing partial blockage and restricting blood flow. I take it one of the mesenteric arteries ruptured?"

"Yes." Isaac responded, feeling glad that someone else spotted the problem.

"And how is the patient now?" Bernie inquired, ignoring Isaac’s smug expression.

"Stable. We were able to remove all the lesions, repair the artery and remove the perforated section of the bowel." Isaac was feeling pretty confident in his abilities but as Bernie took a look at Dom, she was slightly taken aback by his silence. Isaac noted her appraisal of Dom before she guarded her expression and he was not pleased. "Everything will be fine, Ms. Wolfe. We’ll continue his obs as per routine. Won’t we, Doctor Copeland?"

Recognising that she needed to be careful but precise with her wording so that Dom would not bear any lasting brunt of Isaac’s ire, she spoke with quiet but commanding presence. "Doctor Mayfield, if I could hear you arguing out in the hallway, so could other staff. Whatever Doctor Copeland or any other junior doctor, nurse or staff does or does not do, it does not merit a shouting match. I’ll arrange cover for Doctor Copeland with another doctor for the rest of the shift. Be aware that this incident will be noted on record." Bernie was aware of the seething look he sent her before schooling his expression. "Take 15 minutes to go cool off before going back onto the ward. I’ll be checking in later." Bernie handed back the iPad to Isaac and waited for him to exit the room before taking a deep breath herself, rubbing her temples as the onset of a headache threatened to begin.

Dom shifted his position from the corner of the room. "You didn’t need to do that, Ms. Wolfe. It would have worked out." 

Bernie raised an eyebrow. "I don’t believe it ever does in many aspects." She sighed. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but this argument wasn’t just about patient care, there was more than an element of the personal involved."

"It’ll be fine." Dom shrugged, not quite believing his own words.

Bernie was wary. And she was worried seeing Dom’s cowed mannerisms. Zosia was certainly correct in her assessment of Dom and Bernie regretted not keeping a closer eye on Dominic. She liked the young man who had given her far more support than she could have expected after Alex and her being outed, especially as she’d initially erroneously blamed him for the rumours outing her. Gathering her thoughts, she guided the junior doctor out of the side office and down the corridor.

"Come on. Drinks are on me," Bernie smiled.

"Uhm. Ms. Wolfe, it’s four am. Albie’s closed hours ago." Dominic grinned at Bernie’s playful expression.

"And we’re at work, so Pulses it is. I need a caffeine shot to get me through the rest of the night."

"Ms. Wolfe? You said you were covering me with another doctor on Keller. What about the rest of my shift?" Dominic asked suddenly.

"You’re with me, on AAU." Bernie grinned widely. "Time to learn some trauma skills, young Jedi."

They stopped by Pulses to pick up some coffee and sugary treats then headed down to AAU. Bernie stopped at the nurse’s station to speak with Fletch for a moment, then nodded her head in the direction of her office. "Give me about 15 minutes or so to arrange cover and I’ll be back out here."

As promised, Bernie had returned with a smile on her face. She’d arranged with another doctor to come in for the last few hours of Dominic’s shift - someone who owed her a favour and someone who would certainly not put up with any bullying of any sort. Another fifteen minutes later, a delivery of a couple of boxes of pizza and bottles of soda arrived on the ward, much to the delight of the staff, thanks to Bernie.

Pizza consumed, Bernie let Fletch know where she was headed if there were any concerns and she directed Dom to the wet lab where she began instructing Dom on some trauma skills. Directing him in techniques and the principles behind them, she added in stories and commentary from her experiences. All along encouraging him, correcting when necessary and praising his skills as he acquired them successfully. She was pleased with the teaching session. As the rest of the early morning passed, she could see the light in Dom’s eyes beginning to return, and she made a personal vow to continue to mentor and teach him. She’d have to arrange that with Ric and Sacha but she didn’t see much of a problem arising there.

"Ms. Wolfe, don’t get me wrong because I really appreciate this, but why?" Dominic asked as he sat back, looking at the work he’d completed.

"Why teach you?" Bernie deliberately set aside the issue of Doctor Mayfield’s earlier behaviour. "You’re a very good doctor. This morning you showed an eagerness to learn and improve your skills."

However, Dom decided he needed to address the earlier issue. "No. I mean with Isaac. You didn’t have to come in when you did." He sighed.

Bernie echoed that sigh. "Dom, do you really think he would have stopped? Maybe, for a while, before he found something else to go off about." Dom looked like he might interject, but Bernie continued. "One word can sometimes be sharper than a thousand swords. I’ve learned that the hard way in my lifetime. It’s not always about fists or physical violence. It can escalate that way, but not always. Words do hurt sometimes, especially when aimed at a particularly vulnerable part of ourselves we try to keep hidden." 

Sensing more behind her words, Dom questioned her, "Ms. Wolfe, what happened, if you don’t mind me asking?"

Bernie debated whether or not to delve into her personal history, but she felt it was worth the minor discomfort to make a point. 

"My early years in the military, there was a senior officer, he had a way about intimidating junior officers and apparently his family, which we learned about later. He’d find a way to go after the weakest point, which in some ways was good and we learned the proper reasoning from other senior officers, but this guy was just cruel for cruelty’s sake. He drove a few of my fellow soldiers, male and female alike, out of the military. Nearly drove me out. I stood up for myself and reported him to someone I trusted. He was dismissed, not just for the actions towards the junior officers but also on other offences, of which we weren’t privy." Bernie stopped and sighed. "Whether it’s a personal relationship or a professional relationship, don’t let anyone make you feel any less than who you are, don’t let them bully or intimidate you. And if it happens, let someone know. This doesn’t just happen on the school yards. We’ve got a respectful workplace policy for a reason, and that applies just the same at home as it does here, especially if the relationship is between staff members. Let me know. Text, call, whatever. Okay? Also, please do that for Zosia. She cares about you."

"Thank you." Dom stood up and stretched his legs. Sighing, he debated something internally, and then surprisingly, he gave Bernie a hug. It wasn’t something he generally did with fellow staff, particularly senior staff. Excepting Isaac, his last such emotional connection was with Mr. Hanssen after Arthur’s death. Pulling back, he wiped his eyes, straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Thanks, again. How is Ms. Campbell?"

"Surviving. We’re taking it day by day." Bernie smiled broadly and her face softened despite the sadness. "I love her. So much."

"I’m glad. Love looks good on you, Ms. Wolfe."

A blush formed over Bernie’s cheeks as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Thanks."

"Come on, Jedi Master." Dom grinned cheekily. "We must get back to the ward to see how Fletch and Jasmine have left things.

Bernie laughed. "Onwards and upwards, Dr. Copeland." The two of them headed to AAU, light jokes and comments belying an emotionally charged morning, but both glad of its outcome. Looking at her watch, she noted that it was already past eight o’clock, on a partial shift that she’d picked up. She wasn’t due back until seven that evening for her official shift, so she could go home and get some food and kip before coming back in. 

Turning onto the ward, she saw Serena entering their office. Bernie gave a glance to Dom, who gave her a nod and a mock salute before heading over to chat with Fletch and Jasmine at the desk. Bernie continued on to her office, closing the door behind her. She waited a moment, assessing the tired expression rolling off Serena, then she crossed the short distance and enveloped Serena in a hug. Not caring that the blinds were open, she pressed light kisses over Serena’s forehead, down her nose and finally a gentle kiss to her mouth before resting her head against Serena’s. "I love you."

"Bernie." Serena sighed then she wrapped her arms tightly around Bernie’s waist, not wanting to ever let go. "I love you, too." Her own 'relationships in the workplace' rules be damned; she needed this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to continue this story as the characters...namely Bernie...keeps talking. This part is just Bernie & Serena, though more Bernie and Dom chats to come.

When Bernie exited the lift onto AAU with a tray of drinks and a couple of packets of sugary treats, Serena looked over with a smile on her face and wondered how much her partner seemed to subsist on sugar and coffee unless she intervened. Bernie nodded to their office, indicating she needed to drop off her things first and Serena was soon to follow. Hanging up her coat and depositing her sustenance on the desk, her leather satchel on her chair, she leaned over and placed a hand on Serena’s upper arm and a kiss upon her forehead.

"How was your shift?" Bernie asked as she briefly turned her head to the drinks, handing one of them to Serena.

"Not bad. Red phone didn’t ring, that’s always a bonus. Just a few minor procedures that Morven and Jasmine assisted on." Serena stopped and took a sip of her drink, her face crinkling somewhat in confusion at first, as it wasn’t her usual hot beverage of choice. Taking another sip, she smiled at her partner.

"I thought you might like something a bit different. A hot chocolate with hazelnut and whipped cream." 

"You’re getting a bit decadent." Serena grinned, clearly not disappointed by Bernie’s choice for her. She reached for Bernie’s hand and held it a moment and squeezed. "Thank you."

Moving her satchel to a nearby chair, she sat down in her own chair and started up her computer. After a moment, she looked over at Serena, taking in her tired expression. "How did Jasmine do today?"

"Better. She's learning." Serena smiled a moment before regaling Bernie about a situation earlier that the young F1 was able to diffuse with a bit of acerbic wit, which could have been a disaster but the patient started laughing and took it in stride. A few more pointed comments and some empathy and the patient agreed to have the procedure done."

"She is a bit over enthusiastic in her approach right now - especially given her history. But she has a willingness to learn. She just needs to balance that with a few practicalities. Sometimes the best approach is to slow down and take in the assessments. She’s certainly not the first F1 to be that eager. Give them time before you throw them to the wolves." Bernie grinned, opening her arms. To which Serena had crumpled up a sheet of paper and threw in her direction. "Give it time, Serena. You’ve got a wonderful way with the juniors, you’re a great teacher. They look up to you." Bernie knew Serena’s self-confidence had taken a dent after Elinor’s death, blaming herself for not picking up on the clues to her daughter’s traumatic brain injury. Blaming herself for not being someone Ellie felt she could confide in. 

However, in the past year that Bernie had known Serena, she’d seen her interact with the junior doctors, guiding and instructing them, particularly Morven, and even more recently with Cameron; Serena had shown them both the mentorship that they needed. What she was telling Serena was nothing her partner didn’t already know, but it didn’t hurt to hear that confirmed, to have that belief in her skills acknowledged and respected.

Serena breathed deeply, taking in Bernie’s words, her eyes closing for a moment before she opened them and looked directly at the other woman. "Thank you."

They both needed a moment to process the heavy emotion that lingered in the room and Serena looked over at the clock on the wall as a distraction, and it struck her that Bernie was more than an hour early for her shift; which, while not unusual for herself, it was not usually Bernie’s habit. 

Seeming to catch her partner’s motion towards the clock, Bernie fidgeted with her pen. She wanted to broach the issue with Dominic with Serena and wasn’t sure of the best approach. 

"Spit it out, Bernie. It can’t be as bad as you’re expecting."

"I don’t know that it isn’t." Bernie sighed. She explained to Serena the incident she’d overheard and intervened with Dominic and Isaac the day before. Outside of the matter of the personal relationship between the two men, the matter of intimidation and bullying on hospital grounds by Isaac was clearly a workplace issue. On those grounds alone, she had the right to intervene and file a report with the Human Resources department. She also related to Serena the situation she witnessed a couple of weeks earlier, in regards to a patient, the misdiagnosing that resulted in major vascular surgery to repair the damaged leg. Also Dom’s query about the conference trip, when placed in amongst the other two incidents, it didn’t sit right with Bernie.

"It’s a difficult situation indeed." Serena sighed. "There are several issues here at least. While the NHS doesn’t generally intervene in the personal relationships of staff unless there is a situation whereby it’s affecting work negatively - which from your interaction with Dom & Isaac seems to indicate - this is a situation which will likely need intervention by line managers, in this case either Sacha or Ric. Have you had a chance to speak with either of them yet?"

"No. After I filed the report with HR, I was involved in other matters. Also, I wanted to speak with you first, get your perspective. You know Sacha and Ric better than I do, and you know NHS policies from a board perspective."

Serena sat back in her chair. "From your brief description, it certainly seems like there could be some coerceive and behavioural control issues going on. Has Dom said anything about it to you?"

"Not directly, yet. More just witnessing what I have already, along with getting Zosia’s perceptions about their relationship. Zosia also felt that Isaac was socially isolating Dom; not particularly obvious at first, but she began to notice it more recently." Bernie huffed out a large sigh and began to rub the tense muscles along the back of her neck. "It doesn’t feel right to me, but it’s not enough to just go charging in, as much as I want to do just that."

"I’d be worried if it did feel right, but I understand." Serena stood up and walked over behind Bernie and started rubbing circles against the muscles. Turning slightly to face Bernie, she inquired, "Did you fall sleep on the couch again?" 

Bernie grimaced. "Fell asleep after checking the news. Was listening to some music, next thing I knew I was waking up a couple of hours later, neck sore and full bladder. After relieving that, I grabbed a couple of paracetamol, and went to bed." The hardest thing about working opposite shifts was missing the comfort of the other in bed. Bernie hadn’t realized until she and Serena had actually become intimate, not even counting in the sexual component of their relationship, how much she’d missed that intimacy; the hugs, cuddling, hand holding, just being together. 

"Personal relationship issues aside," Serena started again, "there are professional issues involved, not least because of the difference in grade levels, where they work on the same ward; Isaac’s a registrar and Dom a CT2. Legally and professionally, Isaac cannot be involved in any professional assessments, appraisals, or discipline of Dominic’s work. If he is interfering in Dom’s learning, and gaining new skills, deferring blame to Dom for professional errors, management can and should intervene."

Bernie smiled. "Well, I did do that last night." She stretched out her legs under the desk. "I removed Dom from the situation and brought him down to AAU for some trauma skills teaching. He’s good; a quick learner." Bernie reached up and grasped one of Serena’s hands that had been very skillfully relieving her sore neck, and she brought the other woman to the side to be able to see her better. She smiled as Serena pulled one of the guest chairs around so that they were sitting close to each other. "That’s another thing I wanted to ask you about. Uhm...until we can sort the issue of professional intimidation/bullying that I witnessed, is there a way we can sort personnel issues with Sacha or Ric to have Dom take some shifts down here instead of on Keller?"

"Is that something you’ve broached with Dom?" Serena inquired.

"Not yet. Again... I wanted your opinion on the matter. I’ve got some ideas on where I can take this, but seeing as how we share this ward - equal partners and all," Bernie grinned, nudging Serena’s side, "this also affects you. I can draw up a plan, a couple of days for teaching specific trauma skills, and then have him work on the ward." 

Serena moved her hand slightly so that their fingers were now interlocked. Despite her grief and sadness, she loved Bernie with such an intensity that she’d not had for a long time before her. The utter support Bernie had given her was unwavering; often times there was the silent caring and just being there, acknowledgment of the space Serena needed but still checking in on her and Jason, and occasionally recently calling her on her erratic behaviours - not that she’d appreciated it at the time. As bad as she’d felt in her grief, she didn’t hesitate to believe that Bernie loved her in return.

"Okay. Write up a plan. We’ll go through it. And then go talk with Dom, while I come up with some suggestions for talking with Sacha and Ric." Serena stood up from the chair next to Bernie’s, pulling the other woman up with her and drawing her into a hug. 

*******


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay; I was on vacation for a couple of weeks then a week of catch-up at work.  
> More to come.

Grabbing her mobile and depositing her now cold coffee from earlier down the drain in the loo, Bernie headed to the lift to go grab a fresh drink from Pulses. Remembering how breezy it was when she arrived, she figured it would be even worse up on the roof, so she opened the messaging app on her mobile and typed in a message for Dom: 'Peace Garden. 10 minutes?'

When the lift opened up onto the main floor entrance, she stepped out to find a bit of a commotion taking place, other staff looked on in some discomfort while they waited for their orders to be processed, as the one person she was hoping to find was being backed up into a group of chairs and tables. 

"What exactly are you meeting that cow for?" Isaac was using his taller physical presence to stand over Dom. "You do realise she reported me to HR? Meddling bitch." The utter disdain dripped from Isaac’s voice. "Who does she think she is besides someone else screwing her coworker to get ahead?" 

"Good." Dom spoke up, trying to move away from the chair that was threatening to push into his back. "She’s a friend. A good one. I do have those, remember?" Dom pointedly did not respond to Isaac’s accusation about Bernie’s relationship with Serena; it wasn’t any of Isaac’s business.

"Not for long." As if seeing the disquieted crowd gathered for the first time, but without seeing Bernie, Isaac leaned in, grabbing a tight hold of Dom’s upper arm and uttered menacingly, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Blowing out a long slow breath to calm herself, Bernie placed her phone quickly into her pocket, and she quietly snuck up behind Isaac, grabbing his free arm and pulling it up behind his back, guiding him away from Dom. Using her element of surprise, not giving him an ounce of space to counter her movements, she pushed against the back of his knees, leveraging him down to the floor, placing him into a hold position, where she pointedly told him, quietly though loud enough for others in the immediate vicinity to hear, "Fortunately, you don’t have anything more to say about it at this point." Looking up, she quickly spotted Essie Harrison waiting in line for her order. "Essie, can you call for hospital security please?"

Startled out of her staring, Essie grabbed the nearest wall phone and dialled the security office. Alerting them of the incident, she hung up and went over to Dom to offer some support, guiding him to a nearby chair.

Handing the Keller nurse a £10 note, Bernie asked, "Can you grab him a tea with plenty of sugar and meet me in my office as soon as you can please?" 

"Certainly, Ms. Wolfe," Essie responded. 

What seemed to be an interminable time, two security guards approached the situation in progress, inquiring what happened.

Identifying herself first, Bernie responded, "Berenice Wolfe, Consultant Trauma Surgeon, AAU. When I arrived here, Doctor Mayfield was verbally accosting Doctor Copeland here, he then became physically aggressive. I intervened on Doctor Copeland’s behalf. Can you take him to your office. I will be there shortly. He’s already got a written warning on his record with HR."

"Will do, Ms. Wolfe." Taking over physical guardianship of Mr. Mayfield, the security guards led him out of the way, but not before he turned and levelled a glare at Bernie.

Paying the registrar no heed, she headed over to Dom, grabbing a chair and sitting down with him for a moment. She glanced at the young man who was trying his best to appear okay.

Bernie looked around and laid a hand on Dom’s arm. "Let’s head to my office; it’ll be more private." Dom simply nodded and Bernie was worried for the young surgeon. Pulses was fine for general conversation, but not for something that is much more delicate.

Standing, Bernie waited until the young man stood and she followed him to the lift and up to AAU, not saying anything until they reached the Consultant’s office.

Bernie sighed as she directed Dom to sit down in one of the guest chairs. Looking out the office door, she spotted Serena with a patient and smiled over at her partner. Serena had given her a questioning glance, tilting her head towards the office and Bernie nodded her head and mouthed, 'later?' 

Serena nodded her head briefly then returned her attention to the patient that Jasmine was assessing and Bernie closed the door to the office.

"Ms. Wolfe," Dom started quietly. "What’s going to happen to Isaac?"

With a slight growl to her voice, Bernie said sharply, "What I would like to see happen to Mr. Mayfield is much worse than what is likely to happen, so that should have no bearing." Bernie stopped and sighed as she dropped herself into her own chair. 

Dom looked up at her suddenly as he’d not really seen this type of ire from Ms. Wolfe before. Certainly, he’d picked up on disagreements between Ric Griffin and Ms. Wolfe while she did her early stint on Keller the previous year, but it was nowhere near the response he'd just witnessed. He admired that, and frankly, in a way it kinda scared him. Thankfully, she was on his side, and he smiled in her direction.

Truthfully, Bernie would have liked to dispose of Isaac quickly and efficiently so that he never hurt another person ever again. She ran her hands through her hair before she continued. "Given he already has a written warning on his record, and with the incident today, the disciplinary matter will now be up to Sacha, Ric and Mr. Hanssen. If you’re willing to add any further incidents at this point, which you’re very much entitled to report, I can provide you with an incident report form as needed. There will be an investigation into any bullying or intimidating actions by Mr. Mayfield." Bernie sighed as she looked over at Dom. While she’s been involved in disciplinary investigations from management level several times over the years, it always hurt her when it was a friend who was either the victim or the one doing the bullying. She wondered if she could have seen it sooner and or intervened sooner. Leaning forward, she continued to try reassure him. "None of this is your fault, Dom. You didn’t cause him to act this way; it’s a power trip and he’s a master manipulator. Or at least he thinks he is."

"But…" Dom interjected. "What if,…"

"No what if’s, Dom. It’ll drive you crazy. He’s the only one responsible for his actions." Bernie reached over and placed a hand on Dom’s arm. "Listen, you’re also entitled to representation from a mentor of your choosing to work with you through this process and be present during the inquiry. I need to check with Hanssen to see if there are any conflicts of interest, given I was the one to file the initial report with Human Resources, but if he gives the go ahead and if you’re comfortable enough with me filling that role for you, I would be honoured."

A shy Dominic Copeland looked over at Bernie. "Thank you, Ms. Wolfe."

Bernie grinned. "Dom, in here, unless otherwise specified, you can call me Bernie. I think you’ve earned that right as a friend."

Dom nodded.

"As for Mr. Mayfield, I’m guessing a mandatory suspension of duties while an investigation is undertaken. Some of his bullying and intimidation has been done on hospital property, to a junior doctor, so from an employer’s standpoint that needs to be assessed and investigated. There are a few routes that can be taken from there on how to handle any disciplinary judgement." 

Dom nodded, taking in what she was telling him but he was still in a state of disbelief; it seemed to him that everything was happening so quickly and he was struggling make sense of the situation. Logically, he knew that things between he and Isaac had being going downhill for months; it had been so insidious that it had undermined his confidence in himself and his abilities. He hated the fact that he’d felt so desperate for love, that he’d gotten himself into a situation where again, he’d been preyed upon. After Lee, he’d thought he’d escaped that particular kind of manipulative behaviour from a partner. He shivered.

Worried for the young man’s safety, as Bernie was fairly certain that if he’d continued to stay with Isaac, after an investigation had been initiated, that he was likely to be facing further physical attack at the registrar’s hands, she gently asked, "Dom, do you have somewhere safe you can stay tonight?"

"Zosia's offered me the spare room at hers and Ollie’s for now."

"Okay. Good. That’s good." Bernie smiled, relieved. "If you need some time to go get your things, we can arrange for that."

"Thank you, Ms. Wolfe…Bernie," Dom said with a wry grin, correcting himself. 

A quick succession of knocks at the office door, Essie awaited Bernie’s permission to enter before she opened the door. Laying the drinks on the desk, she could sense the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Dom, if you need anything, just let me know," Essie said with concern for her friend. "Yours in the one with the big D on top."

Nodding his head, Dom replied, "Thanks, Essie." He put his head down and reached for the large cardboard cup and took a large swig, grimacing as the tea was still pretty hot despite the delay in getting it. 

Over his head, while nodding towards Dom, Essie looked over at Bernie with a smile and mouthed, "Thank you," before she slipped out of the room and headed back up to Keller.

Bernie stood and stretched for a moment, using the brief time to consider her next move. With Isaac still being held by hospital security, she needed to quickly speak with Serena, followed by a meeting with Sacha, Ric and Mr. Hanssen. 

Noting the exhaustion that seemed to be pervading over the young doctor, Bernie placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dom, I’ve got to step out for a few minutes to go talk with Serena. Do you want to stay here, head back up to Keller or grab some kip in one of the on-call rooms?" 

Though most of him wanted to just go back to work on Keller, get stuck in and pretend that everything was okay, lose himself in the work, he also didn’t want to face the whispers and comments from colleagues at the moment. Although, he knew Essie wouldn’t be behind it, there had been enough people down in the cafe that he was quite certain that what had occurred down in Pulses was already making the rounds in the hospital. "On call room. You and Ms. Campbell will need your office for work..." Dom smirked at her playfully, before continuing, "and other things." It had not escaped his hearing learning that his friend and her co-lead had enjoyed more than one kissing session in their office.

Bernie shook her head and laughed, balling up a sheet of paper from her desk and tossing it at him.

********


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, this goes slightly canon-divergent, at least in terms of Serena's storyline, in that Jo was never an AAU patient, thus Serena doesn't learn of her presence at Holby, nor of Jo's death - aka no resulting downwards spiral or impending leave of absence. She's maintaining actual therapy sessions in Holby.
> 
> The information I have for the bullying and intimidation reporting process comes from an NHS Document: [NHS Employers guidance: Bullying and harrassment](http://www.nhsemployers.org/~/media/Employers/Publications/Bullying%20and%20harassment.pdf)
> 
> ***********************************

In the moments after Dom left her office to head up to the Keller on-call room, Bernie sat back heavily into her chair and took in a few good deep breaths. Things between Dom and Isaac were deteriorating much quicker than she'd imagined. She'd been so focused on Serena, that she'd felt that she'd neglected other relationships. Leaning her elbows on the desk, she leaned forward until her hands rested against her temples then pushed into her hair, dislodging the elastic holding her hair back. Her plans for helping Dom were going to be more immediate than she had planned. First that involved talking with Serena to update her on the current changes, and then send off a request for an urgent meeting with Sacha and Mr. Hanssen. As much as she would have loved to have Isaac held indefinitely by Security, there needed to be some due process; they couldn't just shut him into a brig and let him wait it out. 

Grabbing a pen and paper, she started to quickly jot down some notes about the incident she had witnessed in Pulses before she was interrupted and details were lost. In addition she wrote up a list of potential staff that the investigation might need to interview. From her experience, theatre staff from scrub nurses to anaesthetists to operating technicians, they were all very observant, not only about patients on the operating table, but also aware of the interactions of the surgeons involved in the cases. Whether they said anything or not, they could tell if a team worked well together or if there were tensions between staff. Ideally, an operating theatre ran smoothly when there was a cohesiveness between staff. When there wasn't, obviously, it increased the tension and created risk for error.

Bernie also started in on her plan that she'd discussed with Serena earlier, in regards to further skills training for Dom on AAU. Hunched over the desk, hurriedly writing, is how Serena found her when she arrived a few moments later. 

Stood at the door frame watching her partner so focused on her task that she hadn't heard her approach, Serena quickly rapped on the frame, startling Bernie from her writing. "Hi," Serena said softly as she moved to perch against Bernie's desk, facing her. "What happened earlier?"

Bernie relayed the incident she'd witnessed and intervened in down in Pulses café, pursing out a steady breath as she reached the end of her report. At some point, she'd felt Serena gently rubbing circles on her forearm. She welcomed the warmth of their connection, releasing some of the stress that had been building up in her. 

Serena smiled as she leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Bernie's forehead. "My big macho army medic." Leaning back, she drew her hand to Bernie's face, rubbing the back of her fingers against her cheek. "So, you've been writing away in here. What's your plan?"

Leaning into the touch, Bernie sighed. "For Mr. Mayfield, I need to speak with Sacha and Mr. Hanssen as soon as possible and inform them of the situation. I've got to type up the formal incident report to submit. After that, I guess it will depend on how their investigation goes." 

"And Dom?" 

"I'm worried about him. I think we can spare Raf for the night; send him up to Keller to replace Mr. Mayfield. I'd like to keep Dom down here if he's willing."

"Sounds good." Serena looked at the weariness on Bernie's face, the dark circles under her eyes that the minimal make-up that her partner wore couldn't conceal. "How are you, Bernie?"

"Fine," Bernie started, blowing out a large breath. "Actually, no. I'm not." 

Serena raised an eyebrow as she moved to grasp Bernie's hand in hers, interweaving their fingers. Rather than pushing her to say anything further she waited. 

"I'm frustrated and I'm mad, and more than a bit guilty. Why couldn't I see what was happening? He's a friend." Bernie leaned herself forward until her head was resting on an arm on the desk. 

"Bernie, it's not your fault. We're on different wards for one thing. We're not omniscient; we can't see everything going on in the hospital. Also, I'd say that most of Isaac's bullying behaviours thus far have been mostly in private, out of view of others, until you heard them last night, correct?"

Bernie nodded. 

"Okay. Has Dom decided whether he wants to file a complaint himself? It would help the case against Isaac if he did."

"I did mention it to him, and I've told him I'll get him some incident report forms. He's just gone to lie down for a bit in the on-call room." Looking up at Serena, Bernie continued, "Thank you. You've got so much else to focus on. I hate to add to that."

Serena placed her hand on Bernie's cheek, raising her face. "Bernie, it's okay. You're doing most of the work on this case." Serena smiled. "Today's been a good day for me. I take them as they come. I'll let you know if that changes."

"I do love you. Never forget that." Bernie sat up straighter in her chair and leaned over to press a brief kiss to Serena's lips before she stood and stretched. "Fancy a coffee before you head home? I need some more caffeine before I tackle typing that stuff up and take it to Sacha and Hanssen." 

"Hmmm. That would be lovely. Jason's at Alan's this evening so I don't have to rush home to get supper ready."

"Oh, I took out that carbonara casserole out of the freezer to thaw for you before I left. You'll just need to reheat it." Bernie grabbed some change from the pocket of her hoodie. "Could you send a brief note to Sacha and Hanssen that I need to see them as soon as possible with regards to Mr. Mayfield?"

"Will do."

"Thanks. See you in a few minutes."

******

Returning bearing caffeine and a couple of chocolate chip muffins, Bernie handed Serena hers and then plopped herself in her chair and gathered her files, opening up a new file on her computer to type in her report. Thirty minutes later, reports sent to print, she stood and headed over to Serena, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you hanging around a bit or heading home soon?" Bernie asked.

"I’ll wait until you get back. All ready?" Serena laid her hand over Bernie’s.

"As I’ll ever be." Pressing a kiss to Serena’s forehead, Bernie smiled. "Thanks."

*******

Henrik Hanssen’s office held a strange sense of calm for Bernie. Whilst her own workspace often resembled a tornado hit had she not made an effort of tidiness for Serena’s sake, Hanssen’s meticulous attention to a neat and ordered office helped her focus her thoughts and plan for action. The quietness of the office as they awaited Sacha Levy’s presence at this moment was not felt as awkward, as neither of them felt the need for idle chatter and Sacha arrived just a couple of minutes after Bernie.

"Thank you for both agreeing to see me. A serious matter of bullying and intimidation has occurred, repeatedly between Dr. Mayfield and Dr. Copeland, wherein Mr. Copeland has been on the receiving end. While it is my belief that this is certainly not the first, nor the second, time that this behaviour has taken place on or off hospital property, these have been two incidents in this hospital that I have discovered and witnessed. The first took place last night. It was written up in an incident report and filed with the Human Resources department. I have copies here for both of you." Bernie handed over the reports, although an electronic copy had also been flagged for both of them as well. "At that point, I had separated the two of them, leaving Mr. Mayfield - after a cooling off period - returning to Keller and I provided them with a locum to cover Mr. Copeland’s absence from the ward. Dom came down to AAU for the remainder of his shift."

"And Mr. Mayfield is now being held in Security. Ms. Campbell said you had to physically restrain him from Dr. Copeland this evening?"

"Yes." She handed over to them her formal incident report outlying the nature of the situation which she encountered in the hospital café earlier that evening before giving them a verbal report in highlights. 

Looking over at Sacha, Bernie noticed her tall friend had a muted and saddened expression crossing his face. And, she noted, a much similar emotion that she herself had shared with Serena - guilt. Guilt that neither of them had seen it coming, or rather missed the signs for what they were. She nodded and acknowledged his response. 

"What do you recommend, Ms. Wolfe?" Henrik spoke after several long minutes. He liked the young CT2 and felt there had been more behind Dr. Copeland’s willingness to take the fall for Mr. Mayfield’s management of his patient’s care - or rather lack of appropriate care leading to potential life-threatening outcomes. He needed to re-evaluate the case of recent potential negligence, taking into more serious account the comments from the casualty department’s receptionist, Noel Garcia, and a proper report of the case from Doctor Copeland.

"An immediate suspension and a formal investigation into the intimidation and bullying. This is going to be fairly sensitive because of the nature their personal relationship. Mr. Mayfield’s manipulation and intimidation crosses the boundary between personal and professional when he brings those behaviours into the workplace to the point where it affects Dr. Copeland’s professional practice. I’ve included some names of people to speak with though I’m certain Mr. Levy can expand on that from Keller’s perspective." Bernie sighed, putting her hands into her pockets. 

Henrik nodded. "Do you think that Dr. Copeland is at further physical risk from Mr. Mayfield at the moment."

"I think it’s a very real possibility. Dom has said that Dr. March has offered to provide him a safe place for the time being. I’m arranging for him to go get his things from his flat with Mr. Mayfield. I recommend that we keep Mr. Mayfield with Security until Dom returns to the hospital for Dom’s safety."

"Oh, I think I can find ways to keep Mr. Mayfield occupied until then," Hanssen spoke with grim determination. He did not like disorder, and Mr. Mayfield certainly fell into that category. 

"Sacha, if you don’t mind, I would like to keep Dom down on AAU tonight." Bernie smiled, trying to lighten the mood a little. "He’s shown a keen aptitude for trauma surgery." 

Sacha turned to her, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Really?"

"Don’t worry. I’m not poaching your surgeon permanently. And since you’d otherwise be short two surgeons, we can spare Raf for a shift or I can call in my locum buddy."

Nodding, Sacha responded, "Not a problem. Send Raf up when you’re ready."

"Will do." Turning to Henrik, Bernie added. "If you see no objection, I have provisionally offered Dr. Copeland to be present with him for any questioning during the investigation and he’s agreed."

"Do you think he will press legal charges?" Sacha asked, hopefully. He really didn’t want to see his junior doctor and friend further abused, physically or emotionally. Dom had a lot of friends in Holby, and he wanted to make sure the younger doctor knew that, and that they would stand with him. 

"I don’t know. I can recommend it as a course of action, but that’s going to be up to him. A restraining order might not be a bad idea though."

Standing up, Henrik came around his desk, and stopped before her, quickly nodding his head. "You’ve got our support, Ms. Wolfe. If there’s anything else I can do, just let me know." 

Bernie smiled at both of them. "Thank you," she said before turning and leaving Hanssen’s office and heading down to Keller’s on-call room to meet with Dom and let him know what was going on. She blew out a heavy breath. The meeting had been the first big step towards helping her friend start his recovery process. It was likely to get a lot more complicated and risked hurting him more, but in the long run, she hoped it would be beneficial for him, and she was willing to help him as much as she could - and as much as he would allow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a non-consensual M/M sexual assault, though not rape; I couldn't write that. Even what I did write for that small scene was making me a bit nauseous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thanks to my beta, @iordio, for her editing help. :D

Stopping off at Pulses, Bernie picked up two teas and some muffins. Realizing that she had no how Dom took his tea, she grabbed some sugar, milk, and stirrers, and shoved them into the pockets of her hoodie.

As she stood at the door of the on-call room, she knocked but got no answer. She wondered and hoped that maybe Dom had been able to get some rest before coming back on the ward. Before raising her hand to knock again she heard sounds of movement coming from inside. 

“Zosia?”

"No, no, Dom, it’s…it’s Bernie. May I come in?" After a moment, she heard the lock being turned and the door opened fractionally. Stealing herself, she pushed it open and saw Dom heading back to the bed. Walking to the nightstand, she placed down the teas and everything else that had been shoved into her pockets before leaning against the wall. 

As Dom poured the milk into his tea, it allowed her to see his reddened eyes; eyes that were doing everything they could to avoid making contact with hers, and the bone weariness from his body. She sighed. This was a situation in which one friend would offer the other a hug, but she wasn’t sure if it would be welcomed. She’d had no doubt that if she had have been Zosia, that hug would be accepted, but they were of the same level, but they were not of the same professional level or age.

She shook her head; she’d never really felt comfortable in giving or receiving affection from anyone, including her own kids. She loved them, certainly, but physical affection towards others had always been a struggle; even her interactions with Alex whom she claimed to have loved had been stilted. Due to the warmth and contentment she felt with Serena, she’d grown accustomed to willingly initiating hugs with her kids and Serena. 

There was still an underlying reluctance to share them with others. Yet as she walked over to the cot, sitting down to hug Dom, she realised in that moment the simple act of wrapping her arms around him conveyed so much more than words. Thus, it hadn’t completely surprised her when Dom curled into her side much as Cam did when he was a boy, the tears flowing freely. They stayed like that a few moments until Dom was ready to relinquish his hold on her. Bernie grabbed one of the napkins on the drinks tray and handed it to him, giving him a few moments to collect himself. 

"Thank you," Dom spoke quietly. Feeling the need for a bit of distance, Dom pushed himself backwards, so that his back rested against the wall and he pulled his legs up in front of him. 

Bernie repositioned herself on the bed, so she sat with one leg on the bed and one on the floor, and she looked over at the young man. He looked a shadow of his usual vibrant self. After a moment, she spoke. 

"Mr. Hanssen will be keeping Dr. Mayfield busy for some time in his office. Ric Griffin’s coming down to help Raf on AAU for a bit. Why don’t I drive you over to the flat to pick up your things now, then you can leave them in the office until the end of your shift?"

"You don’t need to do that, Ms. Wolfe," Dom started, initially out of habit, and partially out of some sense of distancing himself to a place of less familiarity. 

"You’re not asking. I’m offering. As a friend." Taking a deep breath, Bernie stood, stretching her back as she did. Holding out a hand, she added, "Come on, young Jedi. Let’s get you sorted."

Dom smirked back at her, grabbing her hand and hoisting himself to his feet. "Yes, Master." Bernie quirked an eyebrow. Dom grinned widely, regaining some of his natural humour, he responded, "Well, I could hardly call you 'Mistress' with all its connotations, which we so won't go there." Tilting his head sideways a moment as he looked at her, he added, "I didn’t quite take you for a Star Wars fan."

Smiling a little wistfully, Bernie responded, "It became a bit of a habit when I was home in between tours that Cameron and I would marathon the early Star Wars films. We’ve got them all on DVD." 

"How are things…?" Dom started, mostly as a means to keep the conversation away from his own troubles, at least for the moment.

"Better. Cam called on the weekend. He’s doing well on the ward of the hospital where he’s working in London. And Charlotte’s getting towards the end of her final term at uni. It’s still hard with her sometimes. I don’t know how to make things easier to bridge that gap yet. We had a good conversation at Christmas but not a lot of movement since."

"She’ll figure things out. Need me to have a chat with her?" Dom offered with a cheeky grin.

"I think I’ll wait on that, Dr. Copeland." Bernie said with a dry laugh. "Come on. I’ve got to go say goodnight to Serena before she heads home and then we’ll head to the flat to get your things. Is Zosia still expecting you in the morning after your shift?"

"Yeah. She’s working tonight as well, so I’ll catch a lift home with her in the morning." Dom grabbed his tea and took a bite of his muffin as he climbed off the bed and joined Bernie at the door. 

When the lift door opened on to AAU, Fletch looked over, hearing Bernie’s distinctive laugh echoing onto the ward. He didn’t know the current cause of it, but he was glad of it all the same; he’d missed that raw laugh lately. Following behind her was a giggling Dominic Copeland as they wound their way around the desk towards her office.

"I’ll be just a minute, Dom," Bernie said as she headed to say goodnight to Serena."

Dom nodded then headed over to Fletch to check in with him for a quick chat as he waited for Bernie.

Closing the door behind her, Bernie moved over to sit on the edge of Serena’s desk. She picked up Serena’s hand, grasping lightly with one hand, caressing it with her other. "Hey, you. Thank you for waiting. I was longer than I expected. Sorry.”

Serena shook her head. "It’s fine. Just a few odds and ends. Raf has pretty much got everything covered out there."

"You ready to go?" Bernie asked, noticing the tired expression crossing Serena’s face.  
"I’m going to take Dom to get his stuff from the flat to bring it back here. Ric is on standby should Raf need him for a consult until we get back."

"How was the meeting with Hanssen and Sacha?"

"Productive. Hanssen’s going to keep Mr. Mayfield busy for the time being until we return; he will be put on immediate suspension from all duties and research." 

Bernie stood up in front of Serena and tugged her up into a hug. "Come on. Time for you to get home. I’ll call you later with an update."

Serena nuzzled her nose against Bernie’s neck and breathed her in. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome," Bernie said as she pulled back and placed a kiss on Serena’s forehead. She grabbed her overcoat from the coat tree in the corner, pulling it on, before holding Serena’s for her to do the same once she had finished putting her paperwork in her bag. Heading back out onto the ward, Serena at her side, Bernie nodded for Dom to join them and all three left the ward.

******

It hadn’t taken long for Dom to collect his things from Isaac’s flat. All of his things were piled into a wheeled suitcase and a holdall. Placing both of them on the rear seat of Bernie’s car, the two of them returned to the hospital. Dom had carefully placed Arthur’s medals in his coat pocket, the last things he’d retrieved from the flat, and now he was running his fingers over them, like a talisman, hoping to draw strength from them and their connection to Arthur. 

Once they got in the hospital, Dom said he needed to go up to grab his things from his locker to bring down to AAU, so Bernie offered to bring his things up to the ward so he wouldn’t need to make an extra trip with them.

They parted ways at the lifts, Bernie electing to take the stairs up the one floor to AAU, the added weight of the luggage an extra challenge to her journey, the physical exertion clearing her focus. By the time she passed through the doors onto the ward, Fletch was directing her over. 

"Ms. Wolfe. I was just about to page you. Red phone just rang. Motorway RTC. Four people on the way in. The ED is taking one of them, we’ve got two critical and the other is going up to Darwin."

"ETA?" Bernie said as she quickly moved to her office.

"Five minutes."

"Okay. Where’s Raf?" she asked as she quickly scanned the ward for the registrar.

Grabbing some necessary supplies, Fletch headed for the Trauma bay. "Keller, to handover a patient, to make room for incoming. He’ll be right back."

"Page Dr. Copeland. I’ll need him with me for one of the patients, and Raf can take the other. Let me just drop this off, I’ll switch scrubs and join you." Quickly piling Dom’s luggage into the corner of her office, Bernie headed to the locker room to change scrubs. She was back on the floor just before the first trolley came through the doors, immediately followed by the second. Once she had received the initial reports from the paramedics, quick assessments were done on both patients to see where her skills were needed most. As she looked up, Raf had returned to the unit and checked with her to see where he was needed. 

"You didn’t see Dr. Copeland in your travels up on Keller, Mr. Di Lucca?" Bernie asked. It wasn’t like Dom to be delayed unless there was an emergency.

Raf was slightly confused by the request. "No. Well, he wasn’t on the ward that I could see."

Turning her attention to the patient in front of her who was fast going into acute respiratory distress and having severe pain in his chest, Bernie grabbed her stethoscope and listened to his chest, quickly firing off orders to Fletch for blood work and scans. "Oh, and while you’re at it, can you page Dr. Copeland again, please?"

"Will do." Fletch headed out the bay flaps towards the nurse’s desk and sent Morven back to help Bernie while he paged for Dom again. He returned to the bay, and picked up the patient’s chart, quickly making note of Bernie’s orders then grabbed the vials and needles required for blood work while Bernie continued with her assessments and treatments. She ripped off her gloves and apron, depositing them in on her way out. Quickly checking with Raf on the status of his patient, she then glanced at her watch. She was concerned. It wasn’t like Dom to ignore a page. Something felt off. 

*******

In the dimmed lighting of Keller’s locker room, Dom sat on the bench, his hoodie draped over his lap and several other belongings lay on the bench beside him. He just needed a few minutes before heading down to AAU to join Bernie. His thoughts were all over the place and he needed to focus if he was going to be of any use to Ms. Wolfe. As such, he hadn't heard the door open and shut and his first awareness of anyone else being in the room was when he suddenly felt hands grabbing the front of his jacket and forcibly lifting him off the bench, turning him and pushing him against the row of lockers. The wind knocked from him, Dom struggled to break free from the hold. 

"Isaac, what the hell? You're not even supposed to be here!" He wasn't getting any leverage. 

Pushing Dom even further back against the locker, not even acknowledging the grimaces of pain crossing Dom's face. "And why do you think that is, hmm? Your dykey major friend fabricated another complaint against me. Why can't she just mind her own damn business?"

"Because she cares about her friends," Dom said calmly. No longer struggling, he was just trying to shift over slightly as a lock was pushing into his back.

"Do you know I was stuck with that insidious Swedish bastard for the past hour and a half trying to lecture me on professional practice and the effects of bullying in the workplace?" The contempt he felt for the CEO at the moment was intense. "He wouldn't know an intense sexual relationship even if it was rammed up his arse!" 

Dom started to push Isaac back, trying to use the locker as leverage even as he felt the other man's erection pushing against him. "Stop it, Isaac. This is going too far." The revulsion was making him sick to his stomach. The moment he felt Isaac grab his crotch, Dom swiftly brought his knee up, making contact with Isaac's groin, allowing him to break free of the hold, and he moved to pick his things up from the bench. 

"What's all this then? Going somewhere?" Isaac growled out.

"Yeah. Down to AAU." 

Turned as he was, Dom didn't see the punch to his side coming until it connected, sending him stumbling against the bench. Dom slid to the floor, trying to curl up trying to protect himself as much as possible. It didn't prevent the kicks that continued towards his ribcage, legs and abdomen. 

What seemed like forever but had actually been just a couple minutes, Isaac had stopped, shifted down onto one knee to look at Dom's face, grabbing his jaw. "Tears? You're pathetic." He pushed the side of Dom's face hard against his boot. "See if your friends down there can patch you up, if they can be bothered." Isaac stood, taking Dom's things and dropping them on top of him before taking his leave of the room. His groin hurt like hell, but there was no way he was alerting anyone he was injured as he moved up the hall, his coat draped over his arm held in front of him. 

In his state of mind Isaac hadn't noticed Bernie had arrived on the ward, and she intended to keep it that way for a moment, quickly glancing over the unit as she looked for Dom. She caught Sacha's queried look from the desk and mouthed the word, 'Dom?' and got a shrug in response. She headed for the locker room, pushing the door open and noticing an obviously injured Dom. 

"Shit!" Torn from her desire to rush back onto the ward and stop Isaac herself, and needing to see to her friend, she quickly turned, knelt down and immediately began assessing Dom for his injuries. "Dom, it's Bernie. Can you hear me?" Bernie felt him nod, then heard him wince. "Where does it hurt the most?"

A weak smile. "Everywhere." 

"Is your neck injured?" Bernie asked, maneuvering her hands around the back of his head and neck feeling for any abnormalities.

"Head is sore but nothing feels broken."

Already having a damned good idea of the culprit, she actually needed Dom to answer her question. "Who did this to you?"

"Isaac," Dom replied, as tears rolled down his cheeks and dropping to the floor. 

Grabbing his hoodie from the floor next to him, she rolled it up and placed it under Dom's head. Bernie nodded. "Are you okay for just a minute? I'll be right back."

"Yes."

Bernie shifted and all but ran back onto the ward, her gaze falling on Isaac's form resting at the desk, looking at some papers. Noticing Essie appear beside her, she whispered, "Quick as you can, go into the locker room. Dom's injured. Stay with him until I get back." 

After receiving a nod of confirmation, Bernie moved with determination to the desk. Schooling her features, and calm as she could, she asked, "Mr. Mayfield, what are you doing here?" She was surprised he was still on the ward, given what he'd just done but supposed his misguided notion of self-importance wouldn't let him try and get away that quickly.

He turned to look at her. "I should ask you the same. Don't you have a ward to run?"

His smarmy attitude was grating on her nerves. Where the hell was the hospital security? Time as of the essence. Not wanting to alert Isaac of her true motive for being on the ward, Bernie responded, "I do. But Mr. Levy called me up for a consult."

"I did?" Sacha questioned then noticed Bernie's steely gaze. "Yes! Yes, I did. Let me just get the paperwork." Sacha moved behind the desk and picked up a folder, ostensibly glancing at the chart. "One of the patients from that RTC, sent up from the ED. How are the ones down your way?"

"Holding their own. Mr. Di Lucca and Dr. Digby are monitoring them. What seems to be the issue?" 

Sacha was saved from having to come up with a plausible diagnosis for her consultation claim when Henrik Hanssen, flanked by two of the hospital's security officers appeared on the ward.

"Ms. Wolfe?" Hanssen inquired directly.

“Mr. Hanssen, please call the police. Gross bodily harm on a member of staff.” Turning to address the security guards, “Take Mr. Mayfield to the staff room.” Bernie spoke with a gruffness to her voice. She waited for the guards to do as she ordered. Satisfied the threat was taken care of, she spun around and rushed back to the locker room. "Grab a backboard and a trolley," Bernie ordered Sacha as she noted he was right behind her. "He's going to need x-rays, full bloods, and a complete CT scan." 

Immediately they got to work on their colleague and friend, getting Dom up onto the trolley and wheeled into a bay; Bernie, Sacha and Essie working mostly quietly as the outcome of the evening's events weighed heavily on their minds. Henrik moved back to the nurse's desk and kept watch, knowing the young doctor was in safe hands but stillo feeling the personal need to remain close at hand. Mr. Mayfield could wait until hell froze over as far as he was concerned right now.


	6. Chapter 6

Finally getting a moment to sit down in her office, Bernie leaned forward, pushing her hair out of her eyes before resting her forehead against her palms. She was tired. They had managed to get Dom into surgery as x-rays had indicated three fractured ribs and some internal bleeding due to the kicks to his side. Fortunately, the bones had not punctured his lungs or any other organs and they were able to repair the damage to the ribs with some rods and pins, and the liver laceration was repaired. The young surgeon was now in HDU on Keller recuperating, Sacha and Essie keeping close watch over him. For now, it was a waiting game to see what would happen.

After the surgery, Bernie had been called to Hanssen’s office to give her report to the police officers. Being required to give evidence to in regard to a physical attack was not new to her, nor was it the first time that a friend had been the injured party. Nonetheless, it was never easy. Henrik had offered her the use of his office to speak with the officers as he was going to use the time to go check on Dr. Copeland.

Directing the officers to sit in the chairs, she brought Henrik’s chair around to make it seem less formal. Despite the setting however, her posture was straight-lined, knees bent at a ninety degree angle and her fingers interlaced and resting on her lap.

“Thank you, Ms. Wolfe. I’m PC Robyn Harker, and this is PC Tim Jamison,” the detective spoke, indicating herself and her partner. “Before we get to the incident report, could you give us your name and position here at Holby City General?” 

Smiling at both of the officers, Bernie replied, “Berenice Wolfe, Consultant Trauma Surgeon and co-Clinical Lead of the Acute Admissions Unit, Retired Major, Royal Army Medical Corps.”

“And you’ve been at Holby for how long?” PC Harker asked.

“Just over a year. RAMC 26 years.”

“Impressive. How long have you known Dr. Copeland?” Harker asked again.

“When I started here as a locum consultant February 2016, I moved around the surgical wards for a bit before coming on as a permanent consultant. Mr. Copeland is one of the junior doctors on Keller ward.” Bernie smiled wistfully at the memory evoked of Dom and Dr. Digby vying for assist roles in surgery. “He had worked with me on a number of cases over the time I spent on the ward. He’d also become a friend in that time - one of the few that I’d made since my return to civilian life.”

After making note of Bernie’s remarks, the female PC asked, “So you’re aware of Mr. Copeland’s relationship with Mr. Mayfield?”

“It’s Dr. Copeland, and yes, I am.”

“What did you make of that relationship?” PC Jamison asked.  
Taking the question at face value rather than assuming the worst, Bernie replied, “If you’re asking how did I think how the relationship was going, then up until recently, I didn’t know that it had gotten so bad.” Bernie looked down at her folded hands in her lap and she sighed. “I regret that I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with him as much as I’d have liked. My partner’s daughter died just after Christmas, so my focus was with her and her family and on work.” 

PC Harker picked up on her statement. “You said recently in regard to changes in Dr. Copeland’s relationship with Dr. Mayfield? What changes?”

“A couple of days ago, I found Dr. Mayfield bullying and intimidating Dr. Copeland. It was behind closed doors but it was loud and clear enough that I could hear what was being said as I was walking in the corridor - not the full argument but enough to cause concern.” Shaking her head, Bernie added, “When I intervened, Dr. Copeland was visibly strained and anxious. Following that, I filed an incident report with Human Resources and the two doctors were separated for the remainder of the shift. There will also be an incident report from a situation in the cafe downstairs last evening. Mr. Hanssen can provide both of those to you.”

“Thank you, Ms. Wolfe,” PC Harker said. “To your knowledge, what lead to the attack on Dr. Copeland tonight?”

Bernie recounted the incident from the cafe and subsequent actions of retrieving Dom’s things from the flat, and Mr. Hanssen holding Dr. Mayfield in custody until their return. That after having Dom paged twice to help her in a trauma case on her ward and not having him respond, she decided to go find out where he was after her patient was stable. Having noticed Dr. Mayfield leave the locker room, she opened the door and found Dom lying on his side. Pausing, she stood and moved around the room, ostensibly stretching her legs and back which had been irritating her with tensed muscles, but it also helped to organise her thoughts. Grabbing a glass on Hanssen’s side table, she poured herself some water, then offered some to the officers. She came round to stand in front of Hanssen’s desk, resting back against it.

“Not that the chair isn’t comfortable but do you mind if I stand for a while? Sore back,” she added by way of explanation.

“Work injury?” PC Jamison asked. 

“Hit by an IED,” Bernie replied, smiling as she noted both officer’s eyebrows raise. “Afghanistan. It’s what landed me here in Holby.”

“Wow.” Jamison responded, sounding suitably impressed.

Thoughts organised, Bernie pressed on. “Anyway, back to Dr. Copeland. After I assessed he was stable enough for the moment, I sent Nurse Harrison in to stay with him to monitor for changes, and I left for the Nursing station on Keller where Mr. Levy, the Consultant General Surgeon for the ward, was standing along with Dr. Mayfield. Once Mr. Hanssen arrived with security officers to take Dr. Mayfield into custody, Mr. Levy and I took Dom into theatre to repair his injuries. Photographs of his injuries were taken prior to us starting to operate - Mr. Hanssen will give you those; they’re in Dr. Copeland’s admission records.” Bernie took another sip of water and a deep breath. “Dr. Copeland had three fractured ribs, and a lacerated liver - all of which we were able to repair, and he also has some bruising to his face, but no structural damage there.”

“When will we be able to speak with him?” PC Harker asked.

“He’s currently in the High Dependency Unit on Keller, on a heavy dose of pain medication and antibiotics. It will probably be several hours before he’s awake enough to answer any questions. Mr. Hanssen’s office will be in touch as soon as he’s ready.” Bernie looked over at the clock on his wall; she hadn’t had time to put her watch on after her earlier trauma case. It was already going on half eleven. She rubbed her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, placing her hands around the edge of the desk. “Is there anything more?”

“Not right now. You’ve given us a lot to go on. If we need you for any further clarification, we’ll be in touch.”

“I’m sure Mr. Hanssen will release whatever documentation is needed. I need to get back to my patients.” Just as she stood up straight Bernie’s stomach growled, loud enough that everyone heard.

“Or maybe something to eat first?” PC Harker suggested with a smirk.

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Bernie responded with a grin. “After all, not a good sign for the patients when the doctors are fainting on them.” 

PC Harker looked over at Bernie with an odd expression. “Ah, no. I don’t think so. Thank you, Ms. Wolfe.” 

“You’re welcome.” Bernie ushered the two police officers from the office and directed them to the bank of lifts where they parted company and then she headed back down to AAU. Before she went in search of food, she needed give Serena an update she had promised her. She just hoped she wouldn’t interrupt her. She sighed then took her mobile out of her pocket.

‘Hey, sorry to disturb. Are you awake?’ Bernie texted her as she continued her journey to the ward. Just as she swiped her ID on the panel to AAU her mobile rang. She looked at the caller identification and smiled as she saw Serena’s name there.

"Hey, busy night?" Serena asked, her voice sounding a bit tired but still wanting that connection with Bernie.

"Yeah," Bernie responded as she headed directly for her office, fending off curious inquiries from her colleagues for the time being. She needed to talk with Serena before briefing them. "Sacha and I had to take Dom in for surgery."

"Wait? What?" Serena interjected, suddenly very much awake and alert. "Back up. Last I knew you were taking him over to get his things from the flat? What happened?"

"Isaac happened. We had a couple of traumas come in to AAU and Dom was supposed to come help me after bringing his stuff from Keller’s locker room down to our office. He hadn’t shown after a couple of pages, so after surgery I went looking for him after the traumas were stabilised." Bernie continued to relay the subsequent events, laying out his injuries, the surgery and current status of the young CT2 surgeon for Serena, fielding questions her partner had as she explained. 

For a moment there was silence aside from their breathing as they both tried to absorb the enormity of the situation for their young colleague. "Do you want me to come back in?"

Bernie smiled as she responded, "Thank you for offering, but no. You need your rest; you’re back here in the morning. Besides there’s not much can be done for him now but continue to monitor his vitals and keep an eye on him. Sacha and Essie are doing that up on Keller. He’s in good hands. I’ll pop up later when I’m on break." Bernie leant back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling, just feeling calmer for talking to Serena, sharing her concerns. "Thank you for listening."

"Any time," Serena responded. Sensing her partner needed a bit of levity before going out on the ward, she added, "Here’s one for the books - I managed to answer two of the questions on Only Connect before Jason tonight - and got them right. I don’t think he was very amused." Her reward was a hearty laugh out of Bernie.

Following a moment of peaceful silence, Bernie added a quiet, "I love you."

Bernie’s conversation was interrupted by a rapid few knocks on the door then Fletch quickly popping his head in the office.

"Our female trauma patient from earlier - her sats are dropping, increased pain on her left side and there’s blood in her urine."

"Thanks, Fletch, I’ll be right out," Bernie responded to him before returning to her call. "Sorry, Serena, I’ve got to go."

"Go on. I’ll talk to you later. Love you, too." 

Bernie disconnected the call on her mobile, dropping the phone into her pocket then headed over her trauma bay to attend to her patient. 

************

By the time Bernie, Morven and Fletch had finished with their patient in theatre, the woman was stabilised and resting in a pain-controlled sleep back on the ward and Bernie’s stomach grumbled, yet again reminding her of the need of sustenance. It hadn’t escaped Fletch’s attention either.

"Best go feed the beast," Fletch grinned as he glanced towards her stomach. "Morven and I can handle things for a bit. We’ll page you if anything comes through. And if you want to pop up and see how Dom is, give him our best." After a moment of Bernie’s confusion, he added, "Mr. Hanssen told Raf, Raf told us."

"Thank you." Bernie sighed. Holby was family. At times a rather dysfunctional family, Bernie noted, but family all the same and they tried to help each other whenever possible. She retreated to her office to pull some cash from her purse, stuffing it in her scrub pants and grabbed her hoodie, pulling it on as she headed towards the lift.

Ten minutes later, she held a takeaway cup of coffee and packaged sandwich as she walked off the lift and onto Keller. She greeted Sacha and Essie at the desk, inquiring into Dom’s status before she headed towards HDU.

Out of habit, Bernie picked up his chart, checking the young surgeon’s chart at the end of the bed. Satisfied with the notations, she dropped it back in its holder and glanced over at the monitors. Everything stable, she pulled over a chair, thankful that a more cushioned chair had been pulled into the room rather than the usual hard plastic ones that was typical. 

"You know, this wasn’t exactly what I meant by having you in surgery with me this evening, Dr. Copeland. You weren’t supposed to be the patient." Bernie reached out her hand to cover Dom’s but momentarily hesitated before continuing. She bit down lightly on her lower lip. "Mr. Levy says your vitals have been stable." Being at the bedside of a colleague and friend was nothing new to her in her military career, but fortunately it hadn’t been much of an occurrence for her here at Holby. She kept a stilted conversation up while she finished her snack, keeping a medication-induced sleeping Dom apprised of some of AAU’s antics. She hadn’t realized how long she’d been there, as her pager hadn’t buzzed off and it was only when she noticed Essie coming in to do another vitals check that she looked up at the wall clock.

"Oh, shit." Bernie grabbed the empty paper cup and package and dumped them into the rubbish bin. "Sorry, I didn’t realize how late it was. Here, I’ll get out of your way."

"You’re not in the way, Ms. Wolfe. I can check these on either side. But, you do have a visitor out at the desk." At Bernie’s curious glance, Essie just smiled and nodded her head in the direction of the main part of the ward.

Bernie stuffed her hands into her pockets as she stood and headed towards the door. "You will continue to let me know how he’s doing?"

"Of course," Essie replied gently as she walked over to the monitors, making note of the vitals, and checking Dom’s dressings as Bernie ducked out of the room.

Heading to the nurse’s desk, Bernie went from being surprised to elated to concerned as she noted a tired Serena standing there talking to Sacha.

"Serena? What…?" Bernie asked, her thoughts jumbled. While her brain was still trying to catch up, her body had no such constraint and she gathered her partner into her arms, breathing in her scent.

"I asked you if you _wanted_ me to come in, I didn’t ask if you _needed_ me to," Serena responded, as she wrapped her arms tightly around Bernie. 

"Not that I really don’t appreciate this, I do. I very much needed this…needed you.  
But you’re working in the morning. You should be sleeping." Without caring that she was near the front of Keller ward, mostly full of patients and fellow staff despite the late hour, Bernie placed a hand around the back of Serena’s neck as she leaned in to kiss her forehead, nose, and finally her lips.

"Tomorrow morning is covered," Serena said as she pulled back slightly. "The benefits of being management, I can call in favours. And you, my love, are coming with me for a break. I’ve told Raf and Fletch they can page us if needed."

"Serena, where are we going?" Bernie asked as she was being guided along by Serena’s hand.

"Patience, Ms. Wolfe." Serena smiled as she directed them towards an on-call room nowhere near AAU or Keller. A little used one by the looks of it as there were some storage boxes piled to one corner and a couple IV poles pushed into an alcove. Grabbing some fresh linens from a cupboard, Serena quickly deposited her bag on the side table and made up the bed. 

It wasn’t until she lay down on it that Bernie really took in Serena’s appearance for the first time and she grinned. She can’t really remember a time when her partner looked anything other than her professional best at the hospital, whether in scrubs or her usual business casual, or on the rare occasion of being dressed to the nines to try to woo money out of wealthy donors. At the moment though Serena was wearing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and covered by an old over-sized navy blue Holby hoodie that had a couple bleach stains on the cuffs of the sleeves and Bernie thought she looked completely adorable.

Bernie got down on the narrow bed, her back against the wall and she pulled Serena back against her, wrapping her arms around her waist. The weariness and emotional intensity of the evening had begun to take its toll on Bernie and her last coherent thought before falling asleep was to ask about who was covering the ward while she was here curled into Serena.

"Ric. One of the favours called in. Go to sleep, love," Serena said as she turned in Bernie’s arms, facing her and placing a brief kiss to her lips before cuddling in to Bernie's side and she sighed. They both needed this connection; something she’d been missing recently as she realised how much she’d pushed Bernie away in her grief. It didn’t take long until she’d fallen off to sleep herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's taken so long to get this done and up. Life has intervened. Alas, here is Chapter 7. Maybe just a couple of chapters left to go.
> 
> ***********

Bernie woke with the alarm on her mobile and tried to quickly shut it off before it woke Serena as well. However, she didn’t think she’d be able to get out of the bed without waking her partner given that Serena was sprawled over her, head resting on Bernie’s shoulder. As Bernie shifted, Serena stirred.

"What time is it?" Serena sleep-slurred speech inquired.

Glancing at the screen of her mobile, she responded, "Just gone half three. I need to get back to the ward and then go check on Dom. You stay here and try to get some more sleep." Bernie pressed a light kiss to Serena’s forehead before slipping on her trainers and shutting the door behind her. Grabbing the elastic from her scrub top pocket, she rather quickly pulled her hair back in to a ponytail in an attempt to give it some sort of order. In her office drawer she kept a hairbrush and spare toiletries kit to take care of things before she attended to any patients or staff. 

Bernie returned back to the ward within a few minutes, depositing the kit back in the office then moved back to the nurse’s station to get the changeover report from Ric as Fletch came around the desk, charts gathered in his arms for review.

"Thanks for covering. Any news on Dom?" Bernie asked Ric. 

"He’s stable, which all things considered is good news," Ric responded. However exasperating he sometimes found the junior doctor to be, nobody deserved the attack that Isaac had given Dom. Like many of the staff, Ric felt guilty for missing the signs that Dom was being abused - especially as his own daughter, Jess, was a domestic abuse survivor, he felt he should have seen what was going on. Nevermind that he was Acting CEO for most of it and thus not on Keller as much as he might have been if he were in his substantive role.

Ric and Fletch updated Bernie on the current status of the patients on the ward and she got to work doing her rounds and making her own assessments, making notations on the charts where needed. Bernie hated to use the word quiet on nights because it had the unfortunate consequence of being anything but. That said, she was rather grateful tonight to have a slower night. After working in her office for a solid hour, she decided to get up and stretch her legs and her back, making use of the stability on the unit to go up to Keller to check on Dom. Alerting Fletch to page her if anything changes, she pulled her mobile out of her hoodie and texted Serena a message letting her know where she was headed. Not that she anticipated a response - she rather hoped that Serena would still be sleeping but she didn't want her partner worrying. She'd send her an update on Dom when she got a chance.

The general surgery ward's light's were dimmed to allow some modicum of rest for the patients, the odd cardiac monitor pushing out beeps depending on the patient's status. Essie and Sacha were working at the nurse's station, updating their own charts when Bernie approached the desk. 

Before Bernie had the chance to inquire into Dom's condition, Essie smiled at her. "No change right now. But that's a good thing. His vitals are stable. He's waking with neuro checks, and responding well with pain medications. Incision is nice and clean." She stood and walked around the desk. "Zosia's in with him right now. Did you want a cup of tea while you're in with him?"

"Thank you, Essie. A bit of milk, no sugar." Bernie stood tall and headed into the ward's High Dependency Unit room, checking his monitors and his chart. Not that she didn't trust the observations of her colleagues but more out a sense of habit. She glanced over at the occupied chair, noting Zosia had taken a couple of medical journals with her to read as she sat with her friend, however, in the stillness of the room, Bernie had noted the cardiac junior doctor had closed her eyes.

Sensing movement in the room, Zosia's eyes popped open and upon seeing the trauma surgeon she quickly sat up straight. "Ms. Wolfe. Is there anything you need?"

"No, I was just going to sit with him for a bit." Bernie smiled. "I see I'm not the only one."

"Taking advantage of the timing." 

Thinking of her own kids and how she'd feel if they'd been injured or sick, she turned to Zosia. "In all the craziness of tonight, has anyone contacted Dom's parents?"

"I...I'm not sure. I can check with Sacha. He should know." Zosia stood and straightened out, directing Bernie to the chair. "I'll check in again at the end of my shift."

"Thank you."

Zosia stood by the door of the room, pausing before opening the door. "Dom is family. It was hard losing Arthur last year. I can't imagine losing Dom, too."

"His physical wounds will heal soon enough. It's the longer term psychological impact that can have more damaging effects. We just need to be there for him. Support him."

"He hates being molly-coddled."

"I'm much the same." Bernie sighed. After her surgery to repair her cervical spinal fractures and psuedo aortic aneurysm, she hated Marcus's attempts to smother her in the guise of trying to help her heal. She knew he was only trying his best, but it was frustrating to no end. On top of dealing with her physical injuries, she had also been trying to adapt to being back to civilian life - something she'd not always been comfortable with in between tours; adapting to a family life that she'd been away from so much. And then there was the loss of her relationship with Alex Dawson, as she tried to return to her family out of a sense of loyalty and tremendous amounts of guilt. 

Bernie shook her head to clear the cobwebs as the door was pushed open and Essie emerged with the cup of tea for her, startling Zosia who hadn't been expecting the blonde nurse. 

"Oh, sorry," both Essie and Zosia replied at the same time. 

"I've got to head on. I'll see you later, Ms. Wolfe, Essie." Zosia smiled at the other two women before casting a glance at her sleeping friend in the bed then she left the room.

"Thanks, Essie," Bernie responded as Essie handed her the cup and she placed it on Dom's overbed table. "Look, I asked Zosia, but I was wondering if anyone had contacted Dom's family. Do you know if Sacha had called them yet?"

"I’ll check and I’ll let you know. Either Sacha or Mr. Hanssen was going to try to contact them."

"Thanks." Bernie leaned forward and rested her forearms along the bed.

Essie did a quick check of Dom’s vitals, jotting the updated results onto his flow chart before replacing it in the slot at the end of the bed. Pumping out some disinfectant gel on her hands, she gave them a rub before heading out onto the ward. It wasn’t long before she popped her head back in the room.

"Sacha got hold of Dom’s mum. Carole is on her way." 

"Thank you, Essie." 

Once Essie returned to the ward, Bernie sat back, looking over at her friend in the bed. She wasn’t prone to talking much about herself, with exception to Serena. It often took some time for her to feel comfortable opening up about her life, especially her military past, but she thought Dom might appreciate a few stories about her unit. 

Taking a drink of her tea, Bernie took a moment to recall some of her favourite ones. She started relating an incident wherein two of her newest medics - who amusingly had reminded her of Dom and Arthur when she had first started on Keller - had finished helping on a minor surgery and were taking some time clearing up afterwards when one of them came running out of the supply tent with a large squeal - followed by her smiling lieutenant who was holding up a non-venomous desert racer snake. Bernie didn’t mind the snakes around so much anymore as they tended to get rid of smaller rodents and lizards which had a tendency to try to hide amongst the medical equipment. That’s not to say that the first time she found a snake that had crawled into her bunk she hadn’t yelped a little. 

She’d continued telling stories until the door was pushed open and Essie arrived with another woman in tow. Looking down at her watch, she realised how late it had got, surprised but grateful that she hadn’t been paged. She turned her head, noticing the other woman approach Dom’s bed, tears in her eyes. 

“Ms. Wolfe, this is Dom’s mum, Carole,” Essie said, introducing the two women. “Carole, this is the consultant that found Dom and worked on him with Sacha.” 

Carole Copeland turned to face Bernie, and without any warning threw her arms around the startled trauma surgeon. After a quick moment though she pulled back, seeming to recognise Bernie’s surprise. “Thank you so much, Ms. Wolfe. I don’t know what I’d do if Dazzle died.”

Essie quirked an amused eyebrow at Bernie and grinned at her response to Carole’s comment.

“Dom’s doing well physically now. He’ll be a few days recovering from his wounds and surgery in hospital, then he’ll need some recuperating time at home. His friend, Dr. Marsh, has offered for him to stay with her for now.”  
“Thank you. I knew that Isaac Mayfield was a no good weasel. I could sense it. But there’s no sense trying to convince Dom when he’s got his mind set on someone.”

Bernie sighed. “Sometimes you just need to tell them you’re there for them when they’re ready to accept it. You can let them know you’re away of the abusive behaviour but until they’re ready to see it and accept that they need to change their situation, it’s hard to change things from the outside - as much as we would like to.” Looking down, for a moment to regain her focus. “But, we can be here for him now, support him as much as he wants or needs. It will take time.”

“Thank you,” Carole said gently, then went to pick up her son’s hand in her own. Her brow creased she took in the paleness of Dom’s face aside from the bruising that had formed around the side of his face.

“I’ll leave you to stay with him for as long as you like. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” Bernie said as she moved towards the door. “I have to go back down to my ward, but Sacha or Essie will be able to help you out.”

As Carole moved over to take the seat Bernie had recently vacated, she turned to the other woman. “Ms. Wolfe, thank you for being there for Dom. It’s good that he’s got friends out there who look after him. He’s mentioned you many times. I know he appreciates that support.”

Bernie took a deep breath, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her. “The feeling is very mutual. Dom has helped me out a few times as well. Good night - well, good morning, now I suppose.” She headed out the door and over to Essie, letting her know she was heading back to AAU and for her or Sacha to page her if there were any changes.

*******

When she arrived back on AAU, she headed for her office, a little surprised that Serena was in there working at her computer, a coffee and a pastry on her desk in front of her. 

“Hi,” Bernie said, approaching Serena’s side of the desk and half sitting on it as she faced her partner. Serena reached out and pulled Bernie’s hands into her own. “I didn’t expect you on the floor yet. Did you sleep okay?”

Serena shrugged. “Fair, I suppose. How’s Dom?”

“Still in a medicated sleep. Everything looks pretty good so far. His mum is with him now and Sacha or Essie will let us know if there are any changes.” 

“Sounds good.” As Serena stood up, Bernie gathered her into her arms, Serena sighing as she relaxed against her partner. “Why don’t you head home and get some sleep? Ollie will be here shortly.”

Bernie shook her head, burying her face into Serena’s neck. “I think I’m just going to go grab a shower and kip out in the on-call room for a few hours. I’m not on tonight, so when you’re done your shift we can both go home.”

“You’re not going to get a good rest there - your back…”  
Bernie pulled back and raised an eyebrow, given that she had only left Serena in there to sleep just a few hours ago and now her partner was back working after a broken sleep. “My back has seen better days and I’ve slept on much worse. It will survive a few more hours.” She pressed a kiss to Serena’s forehead. 

“Fancy a curry tonight? We can order in. I doubt either of us will be in a state to be cooking anything.”

“That sounds delightful. Love you.” Bernie kissed her before pulling back slightly, her eyes already drooping with exhaustion. 

Serena smiled affectionately at Bernie. “Go, before you get pulled into a trauma.”

“When did we get so old?” Bernie asked as she picked up her purse and a few things and started for the door.

“Speak for yourself,” Serena grinned mischieviously, giving Bernie a quick kiss and pat to her arse. “Get some sleep and I’ll see you in a few hours. If you’re lucky, I’ll give you a back massage when we get home.”

The sound of Bernie’s laughter followed her out of the office and across the ward as she headed for the lifts.


End file.
